Alphabet Love Story
by candyflavordlies
Summary: 26 miniature studies in the complicated personalities and interactions of Alice and Hatter. A look at the thoughts and feelings before, after and during their unprecedented journey through Wonderland.
1. Assumptions

_Author's Notes: Well hello again. I've been gone for quite some time but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing my little heart out. As always, I have a couple of WIPs and I'm just trying to keep myself on track. I'm still working on chapters of Heavy and I decided to start this set of 26 drabbles to not only keep myself writing in character but also to explore the mindset of the two central characters, Alice and Hatter. I hope you enjoy._

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 1 – Assumptions**_

Alice assumes, based solely on the tacky silk shirt coupled with the overall questionable circumstances they've encountered, that the man before her is either a male prostitute or, and as she rethinks it, the thoughts are not mutually exclusive, the shadiest person she has ever met.

When he tries to pawn her and her belongings off to Dodo, she knows, at the very least, that he's the seedy sort that her mother warned her about back home. Whether or not he has any set moral standards has yet to be seen and really, couldn't she have been stranded with a prince? Or maybe a knight? Someone, anyone that she could at least marginally trust that wouldn't try to sell her to the highest bidder.


	2. Bruises

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 2 – Bruises**_

As they sit down that night and Alice helps him out of his bulletproof vest, Hatter tries his very best to hide the winces and the sharp intakes of breath.

She's seconds away from telling him to drop the dramatics when she peels away the first inch of mesh. There's the barest hint of a very real and very painful looking bruise. As she lifts it further, she can see the swollen red indentation where the bullet struck and the area around it is on it's way to becoming a nasty black and blue patch the size of her hand.

She doesn't say thank you because yes, he took a bullet for her, but they wouldn't have been there if he hadn't tried to sell her in the first place.

No, she doesn't say thank you. But she doesn't tell him to shut up either.


	3. Curiosity

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 3 – Curiosty**_

Robert Hamilton always told his daughter that she was often too curious for her own good. And Carol Hamilton always warned her that one day, it would get her into insurmountable trouble.

It figures then, that she would find herself locked in a padded box, hovering hundreds of feet over a lake.

And it's no surprise that she'd end up in a place that builds its cities from the top down.

Even less surprising is the fact that her boyfriend is son to one of the most vile women she has ever met, and ironically enough, he's a _prince_.

She thinks of all the things she could have changed, any one thing she could have done differently. One thing that could have kept her and her friends safe and out of this mess altogether.

She tries to keep it together even as she watches them drag Hatter away, but Alice fears her curiosity might have finally caught up with her.


	4. Distractions

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 4 – Distractions**_

Hatter is telling some wild story about an encounter with a borogrove. He swears the animal must have been at least the size of a man but Charlie doubts him and the two tumble down a road of impossible statistics and Alice could really care less. She's too busy staring at Hatter, or in particular, his hair, to notice the lull in conversation.

"Something the matter, Alice?"

"How does it do that?"

He glances behind him and then to Charlie before casting a confused look in her direction.

Alice makes a vague swooping gesture over her head.

"Your hair. We plunge into a lake and you come out with your hair intact. Do you have a secret stash of hairgel somewhere?"

"Hair what?"

She blushes slightly under his gaze and shrugs her shoulders.

"Nevermind."

A slow smile spreads across his face as the realization hits him.

"And here I thought you were actually interested in the story. Turns out you were having yourself a look."

Alice answers with a glare and it's all the answer he needs.


	5. Exploration

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 5 – Exploration**_

Hatter's hands are warm on her skin and she shivers at the contrast.

She's freezing down to the bone and her body feels like she's been through a cement mixer.

"I'm fine." Just as she says it, his fingers find a particularly painful spot on her side, the result of a steep drop into a lake, and she flinches away from him.

"Of course you are." He says it with so much sarcasm that, had her hands not been clenched, she would have slapped him.

Hatter continues on, trailing fiery paths across the canvas of her skin. Everything hurts, from the breath in her lungs to the soles of her feet. Hell, she thinks even the roots of her hair hurt. She's so tired, and to be truthful, tired of being tired. But everywhere he touches tingles, warms her, somehow comforts her and she wishes he could just hold her close, if only for a moment.

She shakes the thought away and steps away from him, hoping to stem the confusion warring inside of her. She can't do this now. She can't think about Jack or Hatter or her own stupid heart when Charlie's missing and her father may be closer than she could have ever imagined. There are so many things to worry about and her love life is on the very bottom of the list.

She wraps her arms around herself.

"We should go."

Alice watches his jaw clench and before he musters up the strength to say something, she starts off and he has no choice but to follow.


	6. Found

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 6 – Found**_

There are a lot of things to be found on this journey; love, whimsy, heartbreak, grief. They've all seemed to find her and her heart is moments away from bursting from it all.

Alice hangs her head as they drag her to the Looking Glass. She's lost more than she came with - a man that she thought she knew and a father who didn't know her, to name a few.

She's lost her friends and maybe even a little of her pride.

She's strong, but not this strong. She doesn't even fight against the hands holding her down.


	7. Grace

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 7 – Grace**_

The woman glides in, graceful as a soft breeze. Her open-toed sandals peak out from beneath a sheath of skin tight gold and her hips sway with such practiced ease that it makes Alice uneasy.

She supposes the Dutchess could be called pretty. Though it could also be the distracting lack of clothing that has the ability to clouds a person's mind. Her blond hair falls past her shoulders and though Alice's rigorous teaching schedule keeps her in shape, she doesn't have the flawless curves this woman does.

She supposes she can see what Jack sees in her - she's so...everything. She's the kind of woman a prince would gladly have on his arm at whatever functions princes go to. She's the kind of woman that could keep anyone's attention, what with her dazzling blue eyes and soft accent.

She's the kind of woman Jack's engaged to and it's a kick to the stomach she hadn't expected. And after meeting the woman she's lost her boyfriend to, or stolen her boyfriend from, depending on who's telling the story, Alice feels decidely ordinary.


	8. Hoax

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 8 - Hoax**_

"That the Dutchess?"

"Yeah."

Hatter stares a moment more, his face clouding with just a hint of skepticism before he shrugs and looks away.

"He's been hoodwinked."

Alice raises an eyebrow at the term. Being in Wonderland has really started to make her question the origin of so many phrases it makes her head spin.

"How so?" She asks from her position beside him. In all the commotion, they'd managed to sneak off for a few minutes, if only to sit and catch their breaths. Even if it's only a log, the rough bark underneath her is possibly the most comfortable thing she's felt in ages.

Hatter stands and readjusts his hat as he offers his arm to her. It's funny how quickly things seem to be moving now that they've finally slowed down and its only moments before they begin the trek to the Looking Glass room.

"I may be a bit impartial since you've saved both my life and my home, but I'll say that you are the far better sight. Lucky me that he's got such horrible taste. Saves me the trouble of having to fight the new King of Wonderland for your hand."

"Ah, and who says you have it?"

"I suppose rescuing you from a Jabberwok, two crazy doctors, rushing foolishly into a gaggle of suits, and pulling you from a lake don't count?"

"Only slightly."

"You are impossibly hard to impress."


	9. Invisible

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 9 - Invisible**_

Even after he screams at her, tries to reason with her, she holds steadfast to her beliefs. Even when the damned man shows up and confesses his deception, Alice trusts him, believes him, forgives him. And all that the silly little pseudo resistance fighter has said and done falls to the wayside.

Hatter feels like he isn't there and he doesn't like it. He feels useless, empty, nothing like he's supposed to.

He doesn't even register on their scale of importance and Jack's ultimatum solidifies what he was afraid of - there will always be someone else, someone better.

He isn't bitter, not really, just invisible.


	10. Jinxed

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 10 - Jinxed**_

The damned woman is a curse. Everywhere they go, every single place, they're followed by danger. From the moment he met her he knew she was going to be trouble.

He sighs because it's partially his fault. Her namesake had been just as much trouble if the stories were anything to go by and names in Wonderland are quite important. If he had any common sense, he would have run the other way the minute he knew who she was.

Too late now, he thinks from the bottom of the pit. He supposes she can't be _that_ unlucky - they weren't speared through by wooden stakes on their way down and, save for a mind shattering headache, he seems to be in one piece.

Less than half a day later, Hatter is forced to agree with his initial statement. He stares in awe at her, of all people, floating on a piece of wood over a crumbling abyss. How she manages to get herself into these impossible situations in such a short amount of time is beyond him, but one thing is certain.

The woman is jinxed.


	11. Keys

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 11 - Keys**_

There's a constant hum in the back of his head, right along with the ever ticking clock and the murmuring of his companions, and it doesn't seem quite right. Not wrong, not off, just empty, hollow, missing something that he can't put a name to.

It's there when Alice isn't and gone when she is. It's like a mosquito or dripping water, it's compulsive and it makes him anxious. So he looks for ways to touch her, to be near her, to feel her skin against his because it seems like the _right_ thing to do.

It's almost musical when she hugs him in the casino. In his blood and in his bones, something feels so right that he has to remind himself of the imminent danger lest they be captured, or worse killed, before he has the chance to…he doesn't know _what_ or what it means but he knows that he wants to do it again.


	12. Legacy

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 12 – Legacy**_

A person doesn't generally wake up one sunny morning to decide what they want to do with their lives. In fact, it's infinitely more likely that it sneaks up on you, catches you completely off guard and ruins any plans you may have made.

Hatter finds this highly irritating since he's much too far into his life to derail it now. But, as fate would have it, things like "What would your father think?" and "Is this what you want to leave behind?" float through his mind's eye now and again. It sets him on a dangerous path of redemption and he'd really rather not.

He hates to think that he's put in so much work staying alive and has nothing to show for it. He hates to imagine that years from now, when he's dead and gone, that there will be nothing left but anecdotal tales of a man in a quite dashing hat.

Over the fire he can see Charlie snuggling his stuffed toy, presumably slaying dragons in his fitful slumber. He glances to his far right where he can just make out the edge of his velvet jacket and the pale limbs that it covers.

He's done too much in his life to be considered a hero but he hopes, at the very least, someone will remember his name.


	13. Mockery

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 13 – Mockery**_

Although she knows he means well, Alice can't help but feel like she isn't quite in on the joke. She's surprised when Jack asks her once again to marry him. Surely he couldn't be serious...? Not with all the lies and deception and general distrust she has for him. And certainly not after seeing the Duchess clinging so tightly to him.

She doesn't want to be his trophy or his salvation. She doesn't want to be his claim to fame or the herald to his own personal parade. She doesn't want to be the laughing stock of an entire kingdom.

She isn't the least bit tempted to live the life of a Queen - she's not even sure what that means on this side of the mirror but she can almost imagine being followed everywhere for every waking hour of the rest of her life. A shudder makes its way across her spine.

Rethinking it, she realizes that she was wrong. She doesn't need a prince to save her. In fact, it's perfectly fine with her to be just plain Alice.


	14. Normal

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 14 – Normal**_

Normal.

It's a word he's heard Alice use on more than one occasion. He wonders what she means by it.

It isn't that the current events are in anyway part of his everyday, but neither is anything he's ever done. Sure, there are routines, as much as there can be when time is such a relative thing in this place, but there isn't anything normal or abnormal, he supposes, about the life he lives.

Too many years have come and gone but even as a small boy, he remembers his adventures. He remembers watching his father in the shop and playing hide and seek in the Checkerboard Courts. He remembers campfires and fireflies and the birds that used to sing at night and the stars that used to come down to light their way back home. He remembers vibrant hues across the land and the sly Cheshires who he'd come across only twice, hiding in the depths of the Black Forests.

He recalls the exact moment when the inhabitants knew Wonderland would never be the same, never be normal. The day the sale of tea made its way into the market, the day the Queen began burning books, the day a once respected member of the court went into hiding, changed his name and crafted his own little band of misfits he later christened The Resistance.

Hatter can't imagine there has ever been anything this far from normal for Alice, but he can't quite recall a time when he had ever wished for it.

Until now. 

_Author's Note: Timelines in Wonderland have driven me crazy. The White Queen fell around 150 years ago, and Hatter makes a comment about Oysters not living that long (which implies the inhabitants of Wonderland do) yet he's surprised that Charlie, having survived the battle, is that old. And we know that time does not run parallel to Alice's world and we know that Lewis Carroll made time out to be an almost living entity that chose when to exist and when to hold. It's made writing Heavy and Alphabet Love Story a hard, hard thing to do since I can't quite place when anything has happened. (Is the Queen of Hearts in Syfy's Alice the one who defeated the White Queen or were there one's before her? No idea.)_

_Also, this series is somewhat in the world of Heavy and Some Sort of Fairytale. If you've read either one, you know of the Phantom Library. So when Hatter recalls or remembers something from Wonderland's past that seems to predate him, it doesn't necessarily mean it's from his personal memory._


	15. Pyre

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 16 – Pyre**_

_Author's Note: I'm stuck on my "O" drabble. I got halfway through and don't know where to go with it. It was holding up me posting the next few chapters so I decided to skip it. It'll be up eventually and once the story is complete, it will be moved to it's correct place._

He finds it frightening to think that his every moment with her is in preparation for her departure. Every step closer to escape, to safety, to the Stone of Wonderland, is one more log on the pyre.

He should be happy for her but how can he be when the only reason he's had to smile in years is desperately looking for a way back home? A home away from him. A place he can't follow.

There's something inside of him that's just as confused as his thoughts, something telling him to help her, save Wonderland but keep her near. But who is her to ask her to stay? And what does he have to offer her except a ruin business and most certainly a life on the run?

He knows somehow, he has to keep her with him but now, at this very moment, it seems impossible. 


	16. Quitter

_**Alphabet Love Story – Chapter 17 - Quitter**_

She hates that she left.

She hates that she wanted to stay.

She hates that she's so damn selfish.

What did she expect? That he would follow after her like a love sick puppy? After all she put him through, she's surprised he showed up at all.

And here she is pining after a guy she doesn't deserve and contemplating leaving her mother here, alone, abandoning her just like her father did because she was too much of a coward to say anything, to do anything when she had a chance.

She tries to put on a brave face, tries to continue on like her life is exactly what it has always been but she hates that too.

Alice is done sulking, or so she tells herself as she throws on a shirt and heads out to the kitchen.

Her mother is in the hall, looking as impeccable as ever and saying something about the man who found her. Alice could care less because she doesn't remember a thing and is trying desperately to forget every aspect of her time in Wonderland.

She's lying to herself of course because when she sees him, her heart stops, or at least she thinks it does. The smile takes over her face and she might even be crying but she can't tell. She's running, actually running and this time she's doing the something she should have done.

She barely stops before she's in his arms and they're kissing and Alice is eternally grateful that Hatter isn't a quitter. 


	17. Silver

_**Author's Note: **__Turns out I'm not dead! Just kind of flaky. I haven't given up on this story, or this fandom, for that matter. I've just been so busy that I put everything on hold...and never came back. I'm posting the remaining chapters for this over the next week until I can finally mark it complete and then hopefully, fingers crossed, I can start working on Heavy again._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Alphabet Love Story - Silver<br>_**

Hatter has a silver ring. Alice wouldn't think anything of it except she's never seen him take it off. It's small, maybe belonging to someone else or a much smaller him, delicate and seemingly important.

She watches as he spins it carefully, one of his many nervous habits. He checks for it constantly and she suspects that when his hand disappears into his pocket, it's to reassure himself it's still there. That he's still there.

For all his charm and wit, for all his openness, this is the one thing Alice can't bring herself to ask about. The way he looks at it, the way he keeps it close, the deep sadness in his eyes when his hand slips into his pocket. She doesn't know why but this one thing, it frightens her.


	18. Take

_**Alphabet Love Story - Take**_

Hatter baffles her, which is saying something given all she's seen in the last few days.

She wonders how she's supposed to act around him, how she's supposed to apologized after last night. She's embarrassed by the way she lashed out on him and even more so because all he was trying to do is fulfill a promise; to take care of her and get her home.

When they break camp the next morning, she's all set with a speech but it all seems ridiculous because he smiles at her and offers a quiet "Mornin'".

She takes it because she doesn't want to be angry anymore and somehow, he makes that so easy.


	19. Underneath

_**Alphabet Love Story - Underneath**_

Alice keeps her skin a secret - one that he is desperate to uncover. Somehow, she has managed to stay hidden under the delicate brocade of her blue dress and boldness of her red tights. Even drenched from head to toe, she remains unfathomably modest and it both fascinates and frustrates him to no end. Because he has to wonder what's underneath it all. Not just the dress or the boots but underneath the drive and the energy and the determination.

She stumbles over a rough patch in the earth and instinctively, he wraps an arm around her waist to drag her away from the opening sinkhole.

He finds it almost impossible to let go.


	20. Victory

_**Alphabet Love Story - Victory**_

She kisses him again and his heart does a little dance. They've been at this for hours - this impromptu Welcome Home in which they can't stop touching each other. Alice's mother had excused herself long ago and they've been sequestered away in Alice's room since then.

He'd be more than happy to never leave again. Hatter kiss her softly, briefly, before pulling her close to bury his face in her neck. She smells so achingly familiar and her hair is unbelievably soft and now he knows what all those poems and stories were going on about.

He misses every inch of her and hopes that he'll never have to do this again. This longing and doubt and distance. He'd be happy to start over here, with her.

When they're tired and exhausted, they lay tangled in her bed, clothes a wrinkled, skewed mess.

She snuggles into his side and he wraps an arm around her. He doesn't think that this could be any more perfect. And then Alice speaks and he couldn't be more wrong.

"Will you stay?"

"For as long as you'll have me."

"Good." She sighs. "I don't want to do this again."

This time his heart does a little victory dance. He helped save a kingdom, fought a Jabberwocky and after much too long, finally, finally, got the girl.


	21. Obstacles

"No way."

Alice stops short behind him, her feet rooted to the safety of solid ground.

Hatter glances behind him but she isn't there, at least not where he expects her to be. He turns to face her.

"Problem?"

"There's absolutely no way that I'm crossing that thing." She shakes her head. "No."

"It's a bridge."

"It's a death trap."

"Alice, this thing has been around for centuries." He shakes the ropes from side to side as if to prove it's structural integrity. Alice snorts.

"Yes and I'm _sure_ her majesty has been keeping up with the city's infrastructure."

Hatter shrugs. "I could carry you." She follows his hands as he makes a vague hefting motion that would definitely end in her demise.

"How could that possibly be any safer?"

"It'd be faster." He mumbles.

They stare at each other. When it's clear she isn't crossing the bridge on her own, Hatter turns his eyes to the sky and takes a deep breath. He carefully crosses the bridge until he's standing next to her again. With no regard for personal space, he intertwines his fingers with hers and all but dashes across the rickety wooden planks, Alice fearfully in tow. Her stomach drops and she's surely in shock by the time she reaches the other side. Hatter flinches, just a little, at the fury burning in her eyes.

She yanks her hand from his and stomps away, her heart pounding in her chest. Hatter follows, shrugging sheepishly. _Mission accomplished_, he thinks.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Note: <em>**_Finally! And that only took my 3 years. But hey, almost there!  
><em>


	22. Wishes

Hatter finds himself wishing for a little more time. Between being shot at regularly and falling from everything imaginable, he wishes he had a little more time with Alice.

She's endlessly entertaining if not entirely frustrating and definitely easy on the eyes. It doesn't hurt that she's running around in a dress, one that was soaked through on enough occasions that his interest in her is beyond innocent.

He finds himself wishing, if he could have just one selfish wish, to know what it felt like to kiss her. To feel her arms wrap around his neck and her body pressed up against his.

He wishes there were no princes, no rings and no psychopathic queens to worry about.

He wishes that it was just him and a girl and all the time in the world.


	23. X Ray

She doesn't know how he does it, sees right through her. He gets her, breaks her down into her tiniest bits until he can see all of the important parts, all the broken ones.

She catches him looking her over, unabashedly so, with a critical eye and a mild frown.

Hatter seems to know what she needs and when she needs. Alice hates that because _she _doesn't know what she needs and here's this man she barely knows trying his best to mend her broken pieces.

He holds her hand, pulls her close when she breaks down and hides her away until she can pull herself together. The weight of everything has finally had a chance to set in and her shoulders aren't strong enough to carry the weight. She heaves heavy sobs against his chest and all he can do is hold her closer.


	24. Yesterday

Alice takes a moment and watches the steam rise from her cup. She's been up all morning, trying to make sense of everything, trying to reconcile her feelings so that she isn't a sobbing mess of tears.

Because yesterday, she helped bring down a tyrant. Yesterday, she watched her father die in her arms.

And yesterday, someone broke her heart.

Her shoulders slump just a little - it's a lot to process and so easy to let that despair take over but she won't let it.

Because, yesterday, she learned what falling in love felt like all over again.

She smiles softly at Hatter over her cup of tea. He very nearly scowls at her.

He's hunched over his mug, looking like death has warmed over. His hair is pointing in all directions from under his ever present hat. In a futile effort to wake himself up, Hatter rubs a hand across his face.

"How can you possibly be so_ happy _at this hour?"

Alice shrugs. She reaches across the table and lays her hand on top of his. "It's a new day."


End file.
